


That Summer Night

by butterflycollective



Category: Matt Houston (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-24
Updated: 2013-08-24
Packaged: 2017-12-24 12:50:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/940197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflycollective/pseuds/butterflycollective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes place a few years before the show when Matt gets into a poker match with some very high stakes. Not my characters just borrowing them for a pretty spicy tale. That continues up to the seasons of the show and beyond.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

C.J. Parsons passed the group of ranch hands playing cards outside by the corral, an ice chest of cold beers alongside them but curiously enough, no piles of money in the ante pot this time.

Oh well, maybe they'd just gotten started, she thought as she passed them with just a glance and headed inside to tend to her mare.

If she had really known what they were wagering over in this particular poker match, she might have headed back to her cabin.

Or ripped them all a new one, Matt Houston thought as he caught her eye as she passed. The men around him reacted to the woman in their midst. They crowed and started eagerly accepting cards from the dealer for the next round of high stakes poker.

The prize had already been selected and the game had started in earnest, as every man in the game wanted to emerge the winner. Matt had discovered what the other men were up to earlier that evening over barbecue and beer, both of which loosened the lips of a pack of rowdy men.

Yesterday on the same day the nation celebrated its birthday with great fanfare, C.J. had turned 21. She'd been working at the ranch since she'd turned 15 and had been a ward of the state living with a foster family. At first, she didn't talk much about where she came from, content to spend her days proving she could work every grown man around her into the dirt. She did it too, out riding, out lassoing and she could split a fence twice as far in half the time. It'd be great to say that all this hard work earned her the respect of the men around her but truth be told, all it did was make them want to get into her worn Levies even more, to be the first man on the ranch to slide between those deliciously long legs of hers and to learn what it felt to ride some prime filly.

Many a man there wanted to break her to saddle thinking she hadn't been around men much because she'd been so buried in her studies at University of Texas and now on a fast forwarded plan to Harvard. But Matt knew more about her than most people because they'd built a friendship that went back further. During the time she'd been underage, his father Bill and foreman Daryl had made damn sure the men left her alone. Bill considered her just like a daughter and had mentored her in her schooling in his spare time. Her foster parents didn't seem to care much what she did or where she spent her time…which was mostly at the Houston ranch.

The men knew that doing more than looking at her would mean that their new foreman Matt would bust their chops before calling the law on them. He'd break them apart with his fists if he didn't lasso them and string him up. But when C.J. got older, not much he could say about it then. She'd been back working the ranch before heading back to her second year at Harvard after finishing first in her class. As she explained to him, law school had three parts. The first year they tried to scare you to death. The second, to work you to death and the final year to bore you to death.

He didn't much worry about her in any year. Little scared her, no one ever worked harder and she was interested in just about everything around her.

She made it clear to him she could handle herself and the men. She didn't need his protection and for the most part, the men didn't hassle her.

Oh but they loved to look and truth be told, so did Matt. So far, no one had lassoed this filly and bedded her, with Matt around no one even tried but he knew they talked about it.

It had something to do with her looks, because the wildness of her curly dark hair, her piercing emerald eyes and her plump lips which hid a saucy mouth drew men to her like tom cats. Most of the men living in the valley were rangy like any tom cat and wanted to corner this young woman somewhere and use her up, almost as much as they wanted to breathe.

Her birthday party had been low key because she hadn't wanted to compete with the nation's own anniversary but then she had broken her rule against dresses and worn a tight flowery piece of fabric that hugged every curve of her body. That had led to a chorus of whistles and offers to dance on the makeshift stage meeting her entrance.

She did dance once or twice until she had left the guys standing there to go cool off with some beer and sit back with Matt listening to him talk about how a bull nearly gored him in the rodeo earlier that day. She smelled of alfalfa and honeysuckle and something else, as she sat there on the steps next to him, her dress riding up her thighs just enough to show off the muscles earned from spending days on horseback. Matt looked at her sometimes like any man. If he slid his callused hand up in between those thighs, what would she do? Push him away probably so he'd behaved himself, reminding him of the unwritten rules of their friendship. But Matt had his own ideas on how to handle women he wanted to know better. Some fillies needed a gentle touch; they needed to be handled in a way so that when they were finally saddled and ridden, they believed it had been their idea.

Sometimes god help him, he entertained those thoughts with her. But he reined them in like a wild stallion. No, he wouldn't treat her like that…he'd never been one to use women like that anyway. Oh he'd had his pleasurable times with them beginning in high school and continuing on to college that had been interrupted by a military stint. One that had promised to relieve his boredom as an athlete scholar at Rice University with a life of adventure and had nearly destroyed his life. Every fiber of him ripped apart by what had happened to him and his now dead cousin Will.

The nightmares had reminded of him what he kept hidden in daylight. He'd gotten his own kin killed after promising his father and Uncle Roy that he'd watch out after the more impulsive Houston. He just hadn't delivered during a routine military offensive where he'd provided intelligence and his cousin had been killed without leaving a body to bury.

He'd survived his own conscience and his father had pushed him out of it to work as foreman on his huge spread of cattle and horses. If it hadn't been for him and C.J…because she'd played her own role too. It'd just taken him a while to stop hating her for it.

Then he'd found out about this damn poker game and wanted in but not for the reason he'd given the other hands. When he found out what constitute the prize for the winner, he'd set his course knowing he had his work cut out for him.

But he had to win. So here he sat outside the barn sitting on some hay bales in a circle playing poker. It'd been going on for about an hour or two.

Having been dealt another hand of cards, he sighed, not believing that he'd agreed to the stakes of this particular poker match.

"You think she just doesn't like guys?"

Slim repeated a question Matt had heard before from the men.

"Nah, maybe she just doesn't like you," Carlton said, eying his hand, "but I'll bet she'll like what I have to give her."

Matt eyed the two of them and decided he couldn't walk away from the game until he won it.

If he won the match, he'd take home the ultimate prize, the one he'd never claim of course. Just to stop any other man here from doing it. He'd be damned if any man who won this game would walk into that barn and claim his best friend as his prize.

That was the stakes of the game, to get her into bed. Whatever man was left standing in the game with the best hand, would be C.J.'s next lover. Of course she didn't know it but she would when the victor went to claim his prize. Of course, Matt guessed that whoever did that would be slapped in the face for his efforts. He didn't share that news with the other players because he had planned to win himself to stop it.

The truth was a girl like that couldn't work alongside a group of men and stay below the radar for long and he knew that the poker game was simply the more civilized version of what had been planned for quite a while. It was also his way to make sure that he'd control the outcome because he'd picked five card stud with no wild cards, his favorite game.

He'd win the match, claim his prize and go into the barn letting her in on the plan. They'd wait a while and he'd come out and tell the others it had been done, and then life would return to normal.

She'd look at him with eyes wide when he told her what he had spared her from and she'd appreciate his help keeping all the other hands away. He had that part of him of course that thought he might then move in for the kill but no, she wasn't like anyone else. He'd have to park his libido at the door before going inside.

C.J. stroked her mare's neck thoughtfully, thinking about how great it had been to turn a year older yesterday. It hadn't been her fault she had been born on Independence Day but it fit her philosophy on life that she'd adopted.

She'd always been an independent spirit even after her parents died and even when her foster parents disparaged her for it. The first chance she got, she sought and won emancipation in the courts just to get out of the house, away from their fighting and four other children in the wings. She'd switched from working their smaller family ranch for nothing to earning enough money for her to sock it away for college someday. She'd done that and the ranch's owner Bill had wound up mentoring her in her studies.

But when she thought about being her own woman right now, her needs turned more primal. She didn't want to be alone, the sole woman on the ranch anymore. Sometimes she got curious about what it'd be like to do what the men did which was to just have fun. She knew they all wanted her that way and even more so now that Matt had turned her into something akin to forbidden fruit.

Still when she thought about which one she wanted, she knew the answer to that already. She wanted him.

What she wanted from the ruggedly built man with dark hair and a sexy smile, rhymed with his name though she said nothing. When they had sat together on the steps sipping beer watching the partying around them, she had hoped that he'd compliment her on her dress. She had purchased it at the boutique in town just for the party but he had just sat there nursing his bottle talking about nearly getting killed by a pair of horns on an ornery bull.

When all she could think about is if he whispered into her ear about how much he wanted to slip away from the party to do some private celebrating… her birthday just couldn't get any better than that. Instead he hadn't done anything and after the fireworks died down, she had gone to bed alone thinking what it'd be like to be wrapped up in him while the sky sparkled from a whole different kind of pyrotechnics.

It annoyed the more rational side of her to think like that. Damn, half the time he annoyed the hell out of her by his protectiveness which bordered on smothering. It'd almost been better when he'd been so pissed off at her and his own father for forcing him back into living without his dead cousin. He'd been so ripped up by his death, thinking he'd caused it, they'd almost lost him for good.

She sighed as her mare nudged her shoulder. No such luck, that Matt would ever want to put aside his professional detachment and do anything so intimate with her. Not that she'd ask or beg him to do it only to have him push her away, and say no thanks. He'd be so nice about it when he rejected her, that she'd feel even worse.

No, she'd have to find some other guy to hook up with, someone who didn't care about protecting her from what she wanted, well another guy would suffice. She still imagined what it'd be like with him, his mouth marking her skin, and branding her in ways that made her shiver. His face etched in concentration as he stroked her in ways that dazzled her all the way to her toes. It didn't have to be about romance and all that fiction, they'd just focus on having a good time.

She cursed the man she wanted right now.

In a few minutes, she'd have to go back inside her cabin and take a cold shower. It had been another hot and humid day that hinted at rain but didn't deliver. The barn offered some relief and her mare, good company but she'd tried to whittle down her restlessness by cleaning tack in the groom's room while sitting on the cot and staring at the rodeo trophies gathering dust on the shelves.

The names etched on them in silver long gone.

All she had done while sitting there was imagine what it'd be like if she had Matt well, Matt naked in front of her and she could touch every inch of him with her hands, over his roughness and the softness she knew she'd find too. Slide her fingers over his muscular chest, over his taut abdomen even lower to his…

She felt the heat rise in her face then as she wondered if he were hung like the bull that nearly gored him, how it would feel in her hands. She ached to wrap her hands around that part of him and explore it but if he knew that, he'd probably avoid her…not to mention if he knew that her mouth itched to taste his mouth, he'd just tell her how much she needed his brand of protection.

When she'd needed protection, it'd been too late after all. What she wanted was to live her life the way she wanted. She knew he sought that too.

What they both needed if he'd only realize it. She was done waiting around for him, the next guy who walked into the barn, would be the one who would be her first. If it happened to be Matt, that would be her choice but she needed someone to scratch her itch.

The poker playing got fast and furious and in the ante, one of the men had chuckled and threw a condom. Whoever would win the poker match would be covered literally and figuratively when he went inside to tame the filly. Matt looked at his hand and sighed. His luck had to change or Dylan across from him would win the game and he didn't want the cocky upstart anywhere near C.J..

No, he'd have to keep praying for good cards when he hit up the dealer.

"So how would you do it Slim," he said, "Would you take her at a fast gallop, or a leisurely canter?"

Matt just fired a look at them but they ignored him. Slim chuckled.

"I'd take her anyway she liked it," he said, "She'd keep begging me for more."

The men crowed even louder than they had earlier. It all disgusted Matt really but he had to go along with it that was his strategy when he had agreed to the poker match.

"I would hope she'd be willing to prime the pump first," Dylan said, "before we do any riding."

That won him some backslapping. All eyes then turned on Matt.

"So how would you like her," he said, "Fully clothed or trussed up first and just ready to go?"

He hesitated, running his hand through his hair because he had his own fantasies about her that he kept hidden most of the time. But didn't feel like sharing them with a group of horny ranch hands. If they thought he was one of them…

"We'd just do it, end of story."

That earned him some boos.

"Oh come on bro," Dylan said, "Don't you tell me you haven't been wanting a crack at her since she arrived."

Matt sighed.

"She was only 15 Dylan."

The other man shrugged.

"Hey, she was fully developed and I'm sure all her parts worked," he said, "but when I walk into that barn, she'll know she's in for a good time."

Likely Dylan would get his face punched by C.J. before she sent him running out of the barn. He'd stick around in case it got out of hand but he didn't plan on letting Dylan win.

Not at anything and certainly not with her. All he had to do was win this last hand and he'd get the girl. Then he'd figure out what to do with her.

C.J. sat on the hay bale imagining what it'd be like if Matt walked in right now, and for once looked at her like the woman she had become instead of just her best friend. She knew she had grown attractive, with her thick dark hair and her breasts which had ripened to where they stretched her camisoles. She felt and saw the way men viewed her.

The barn remained empty though occasionally she heard some whoops and hollers outside from the ongoing poker game no doubt. The men sometimes let her play, after teasing her that for each hand lost, she'd have to remove an item of clothing but she stuck to paying for hard cash.

Her body tingled and she knew she had to stop thinking about him and just head inside for the night. She'd take that cold shower and then lie in her bed trying to sleep.

So she kept that secret to herself, because it'd been a long hot summer so far which left her restless and wanting. She needed a man to leave his mark on her, whisker burn on her the scent of his cologne as proof of where he'd been.

She wanted her summer to change.

God, she really had it bad. But what was she going to do about it and was anyone going to walk through that barn door?


	2. Chapter 2

Matt's luck began to improve and he even wound up with a full house which he put on display in front of the astonished ranch hands. With every carefully executed round of poker, he inched closer to victory meaning that he'd grab that condom, walk into the barn and close the door behind them.

Leaving the rest of them to imagine what would be going on inside. Only that's all they'd do because he planned to persuade C.J. to go along with his plan to convince the other hands that he had enjoyed his prize. But as he drew a pair of threes, he wondered how she would handle that. Would she put her hands on those nicely flared hips of hers and lecture him about how she was a fully grown woman not a horse?

Well she could talk all she liked but if she left the barn without going along with it, she'd run into a heap of trouble working on the ranch. After all, having a female working alongside the men riding hard and getting dirty doing ranching work from sunrise to sunset had broken all kinds of rules on the ranch. It just wasn't heard of, because women pitched in but not with the grueling and often dangerous daily grind.

He could protect her from the action of the hands but not their thinking.

"Matt, you're looking like you're going to clean up here," Slim said sighing," Sure picked your game well."

Matt focused on his cards, yeah he sure did because he knew he'd win for sure this way, because the only person who could beat him was inside the barn. Dylan still believed that it would be him going inside the barn to meet up with C.J. and he won just enough hands to keep him hopeful.

"I got plenty of good chances left," Dylan said, "and when I go inside, I'll even let her pick out the spot where I'll nail her."

Slim chuckled.

"Right against that far wall works for me," he said, "Just get naked and then try not to get splinters in her back."

"I'll do it anyway she likes it," Carlton said, "and I'll put a smile on that face of hers."

Matt's hands balled into fists at his side. Their raunchy talk grated on him and made him even more determined to win the next couple of hands and end this so it would be him walking inside. Hauling back and punching them out was another option but not all at once. So he'd decided to play along with them and he planned to win.

And then what?

He would get her to see why his plan to handle this would be the best before she had a chance to tell him off. He would just talk some sense into her and not be thinking about what he'd rather do instead.

How much he'd rather taste those sweet lips, plump and pliant beneath his own mouth, the headiness of her scent reaching him just before he plunged his tongue in between those lips. Would she allow him to do that or turn away, in his fantasies she'd suck on his tongue enough to drive him crazy?

His hands would ride across her shirt, easing their way underneath the fabric to caress her silky skin underneath right up to the lower curve of her breasts. He didn't know if she favored bras over camisoles but he'd love to have that mystery solved with his fingers. When he palmed her breasts with his hands even between the two pieces of clothing, she'd lean against him and sigh, he knew it.

Then he'd whisper something in her ear to make her nipples go hard.

He sighed as he waited to make his decision to draw another card or to keep his hand. No, she probably wouldn't do any of that if he put any moves on her when he went in the barn. He didn't think she'd exactly blush and act all demure but she probably would be as likely to slap him as any of the other guys. Better stick to protecting her from the other men like any best friend would do.

And just as much, from him as his thoughts became less than chaste.

C.J. heard the men laughing and she thought about stepping outside and asking them if she could join in their poker game. She figured they'd just tell her to get lost.

Even Matt who she had gotten the better of once or twice probably wouldn't welcome her in their midst. So instead she went to get some hay for her mare's nose bag and listened to the mare neigh contently as she dug in for her meal. She thought about heading back to the house to take that cold shower she really needed about now but…

She returned back to the groom's room and sat back down on the cot. The mattress groaned beneath her and she lay back on the comforter on top of it and looked up at the ceiling. Spider webs dominated the corners and the wood had cracked in several places but the damp heat hadn't penetrated the walls yet so it still felt cool. The cot was sturdy but comfortable and wide enough to fit two people if they overlapped meaning if they were wrapped up in each other's arms.

Even a large guy like Matt, who she'd love to have lying there right now with her. Oh the things she would do to make sure he didn't fall out of bed. But since that wasn't happening soon, she'd be left to her own thoughts.

She'd spend some time here looking at the ceiling and then she'd head inside.

Matt collected his winnings and looked around him at the crestfallen faces surrounding him. No doubt more than a few dreams and fantasies had just deflated as a result of his winning straight. Even Dylan just glared at him, tossing down his three of a kind.

Whoa that had been close, too close.

Best news for Dylan because there was no way that he'd be stepping foot in the barn to claim his prize anyway.

The men got up one by one after he did and slapped him on the back.

"Congratulations Matt…"

"Good job…"

"Don't keep her waiting…"

"Nail her good…"

He almost punched Carlton out for that line but he left them to head inside the barn.

"Hey Matt, you forgot something…"

He turned to look at Dylan who held up the small foil wrapped square before tossing it to him. Matt caught it deftly and slipped it in his pocket before heading into the barn.

C.J. just lay there on the couch considering her life in general and this summer of it in particular. She'd been working so damn hard sunrise to sunset wasn't she entitled just like anyone to kick back and relax? No, some double standard afforded only men with that opportunity.

Still the only thing that would really satisfy her right now was a good hard man. She'd never find one here so maybe if after her shower she got dressed in the only other dress she owned and some nice heels and went to the club, she could start out the night by doing some dirty dancing and then decide whether or not to take it to a motel room.

She was 21, living on her own, holding a full-timed job and if she wanted to find a guy to enjoy in her spare time, who would judge her for that? Other women did that; they just wouldn't have to be teased by a group of men the next day while out riding on the ranch.

That would work, she thought, she'd give herself the birthday present of going out and having some fun. Hoisting herself off the mattress, she noticed in the cracked mirror that her hair had gotten mussed up, her face flushed. She straightened up her top and brushed her hair down with her fingers.

Then she walked out of the groom's room and looked up to see Matt standing there. She felt his penetrating gaze on her and her skin warm at the sight of him there. Not long after he had taken her pussy inside of his mouth…at least in her fantasies.

"What are you doing here," she asked him.

He looked at her pointedly.

"I need to talk to you."

She sighed.

"Oh don't do that," she said, "Work hours are over and I'm going to hit the shower and then the club."

She tried to walk past him and he grabbed her arm, the strength of his grip stopped her in her tracks. The dominance of such a motion, her body tightened. God she hated when he did that, grabbing her, jerking her to either stop moving or fall into step with him. As if she were a child and not a grown woman. She sidestepped him this time and hoped he got the hint. Her mind was on her plans for the night which didn't involve him. Right now, she didn't need any lectures either. There were other ways to dominate a woman that were more pleasurable. Looking at him standing beside her, did she just think that?

He had always been a wall of a man and she wondered what it'd feel like to have his naked flesh press against her, flattening her breasts against his chest while he buried himself deep inside her. Oh, it was really getting warm inside here, she thought.

"What do you want Houston?"

If he tried to grab hold of her to make his point, she'd grab her arm away from him and continue to her cabin.

"It's about what happened outside," he said, "when the guys and I were playing poker."

She crossed her arms, her interest piqued. Something that lined his face just then attracted her.

"Okay I'm listening."

He looked down at his boots and that wasn't like him so she thought, this must be really interesting or really bad news so she braced herself.

"We were playing five card stud, nothing wild, my choice…"

"Okay, that's your best game..."

"But we weren't playing for money," he said, "We were playing for you."

She frowned at him, her arms still folded but her mind entertained some forbidden corners as his words reached her.

"What did you just say?"

Matt sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Exactly what I told you," he said, "Whoever won the poker match got to come in here and have sex with you."

Cutting right to the chase so quick she didn't know how to react.

She was almost too shocked at his revelation for words…almost but then something happened what she found most shocking is that what she really felt was turned on. it would be from what he just said. Some guys had played poker to win the chance to slide into bed with her and get spend the night with her… That pissed her off and made her want to set some chauvinistic assholes straight…and yet.

If Matt was here with her inside the barn, that meant only one thing.

That he had won the prize.

Oh her knees went weak at the idea that he had walked inside the barn with the intent of not leaving until he had claimed her. She knew she should be offended at the chauvinism behind the whole idea of men playing poker over a woman but looking at him right now softened her view of it.

She would be pissed off enough to get violent if it had been any other hand, Carlton and especially Dylan who had strutted in the barn telling her to take her clothes off and spread her legs.

Matt however, that was a whole different thing. When he told her to take her clothes off, there was no way in hell she was saying no. She'd rip her shirt off so that it could never be worn again…at least with buttons and the pants she wore would slide over her hips and down her legs so quickly…they'd probably burn her skin.

Her lingerie, also history and she'd stand in front of him, ready for him. Then she'd tell him it was his turn to take it all off.

Wait a minute here, what the hell was she thinking? If Matt had been playing poker with the best of them intent on nailing her, did that make him any better? She'd just never thought he'd do anything like this with her. Her fingers itched on one hand and she didn't know what she wanted to do with it first. Slap the face of the man in front of her or stroke it instead.

"C.J.…did you hear what I just told you?"

She nodded.

"Yeah I did Houston and since you're in here telling me all this, I'm assuming that you won the poker match."

He stared at her and the way he did, it was like someone had struck a match close to her and the heat that ignited reached her skin. Oh, she knew if he removed his pants, she might just make a liar out of him if he was swooping in to save her instead? That part of it didn't fit in her scenario.

She didn't want him in here doing the right thing and protecting her from the men did she?

Then the other part of her thought differently. Oh hell no, if he played through all those hands of poker to keep the other men away from collecting their prizes, then he could just walk out right now without looking back. She didn't need anyone to take care of her like that.

What she needed was the man in front of her to take a couple steps towards her and lay those lips of his on her mouth, and show her what it meant to be thoroughly kissed by a man who wouldn't just stop there. Treat her like a woman and not a defenseless child incapable of doing her own thinking.

She knew that deep inside of him, below all these good intentions, he wanted that too and he hid something in the darkness she sensed too. But how was she going to get him to stop playing the chivalrous cowboy and get his hands in her pants?

Inspiration needed to hit her quickly before either one walked out of there.


	3. Chapter 3

C.J. stared at the cowboy in front of her. Matt thought she'd looked too damn beautiful right now to make what he had to do easy.

"So you did win the poker match didn't you," she asked, "Isn't that why you really came inside the barn?"

He studied her face, and she felt the indecision behind his own, as if it were palpable. But he just shook his head.

"No C.J., I came here to tell you the truth," He said, "You follow my lead and play along and they'll leave you alone."

Oh he watched as her hackles went up, as pretty as they were, and he knew they were raised against him.

"Did I just hear you correctly," she said, "You want me to back up some story you plan to tell them that you scored with me, to keep them away or is it really to make you look like some kind of stud, who bagged the prize filly inside the barn?"

He blinked his eyes at her.

"Oh yeah Houston, I know what they call me when they think I'm not listening," she said, "and I know what they'd do to me if they got me alone."

He frowned at her.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed.

"Carlton's really into rope play and wants to truss me up against the fence here and then take me from behind while he bites the back of my neck like some stupid stud. Slim wants me to well…I don't want to get into that and Dylan…"

Matt put up a hand.

"C.J. you don't have to…"

Instead she took a step closer to him, her eyes defiant and that sent stirrings inside him all the way to where it shouldn't. But he'd just come into the barn to help her, only she didn't seem to get that the way she looked at him right now.

"And what would you like to do to me Houston?"

He heard the challenge in her voice which more than laced her words.

"I mean you won me in a poker match," she said, "I'm yours now aren't I? What would you like to do first?"

He sighed as he took in the young woman in front of him, the one whose curves his fingers itched to embrace, to run over gently at first and then with more power. She really shouldn't have asked that last question.

"You do what I say and follow my lead," he said, "and the whole thing will blow over in a couple of weeks."

She didn't believe that and she didn't trust his motives. That he wanted her to pretend that they'd just did it in the barn to convince the other hands that she belonged with him and thus was hands off. A delicious charge ran through her at the thought but she didn't let it change her stance. It was the worst plan she'd ever heard.

"No Houston I'm not going to do it," she said, "I'm not going to lie for you."

He frowned.

"You'd be lying for yourself not for me,"

"Bull shit, I'm not going to work each day alongside you with the men thinking I did you because you won me in a poker match when nothing happened. Listening to their jokes and innuendos of doing the boss."

He took one step towards her and she felt the intensity of the man, almost enough to retreat a step but she held her ground instead.

"So what's the alternative?"

She didn't miss a beat.

"We do it for real," she said, "That's the only way either one of us is going to get out of here with that story."

He just looked at her, as if she'd gone crazy. So he didn't want her after all, except in her fantasies.

"C.J., do you even know what you're saying?"

She folded her arms at him.

"Sure I do," she said, "I'm no liar so if you want me to tell the hands I slept with you, better make sure it's the truth."

He just shook his head at her and she saw something in his eyes that almost made her want to take that last statement back. Only now she couldn't so she stood there and waited for a response.

"I can't do that…"

She looked past his words into his eyes and read differently, She took one step closer to him, close enough so he could touch her. She knew he wanted to do that by the way his hands tensed with her approach.

"Why not…I'm not a girl anymore…I haven't been one in a while."

His mouth curved into a smile.

"Yeah I noticed… but you're my best friend and damn I really needed one a while back."

Oh that, he figured she didn't want him to talk about how she had pulled him from the depths of despair and nightmares so vivid he'd worn him on his face each day. She'd been the most important person in her life pure and simple. When he'd been in trouble she didn't have to think about involving herself she'd just done it even though it'd pissed him off at the time. But right now she didn't look like she wanted to think about all that.

She stepped even closer, close enough so he smelled the honey suckle from her hair, the jasmine bath soap she showered after each work day.

"I wouldn't stop you…and you won't want to stop me."

Before he could respond, she stepped closer to him to where they nearly touched and placing her hands on his shirt, she reached up to kiss him on his mouth. Damn, when she first flirted with his lips, with her own, he nearly jumped out of his skin. She brushed the lips he'd fantasized about over his mouth, almost like a whisper but it sent tendrils of pleasure through him. She seemed hesitant to intensify the pressure so he helped her with that by sliding his hands around her waist and pulling her closer to him, molding their bodies together.

He knew he shouldn't, he knew that he should stop her from kissing him but after all, it wasn't as if she hadn't warned him. He explored her own mouth with his, the delicate corners and where they slightly parted, where he would slide his tongue inside the split second before she expected it. His hands slid down her back to the fit of her jeans which he cupped and she felt that even with the denim in between her skin and his hands. She pressed against him while they continued to kiss. His body felt so hard against her softness as she explored his chest with her hands that he found himself wanting her to slip beneath his shirt.

"C.J.…"

She gasped against him as his lips sought hers again, and his capable hands scooped her up to move her towards the hay bales. He sat her down there and she reached for him, lest he have second thoughts about continuing, but Matt made it clear he wasn't going anywhere. His original intentions be damned…not when she made him feel like he did right now.

In fact, his hands moved to her shirt and he reached for that first button and undid it, casually as if she wouldn't notice. Only she did, it had been like his fingers had burned her skin rather than lightly brushed it as they worked on her shirt.

The second button, undone, then the third and the fourth as he worked his way down her shirt, slowly unwrapping her as he did so. Underneath she wore a black camisole and his eyes widened.

"What, a woman can't wear pretty things?"

He chuckled at the amazement in her voice, as he lightly stroked the silky material.

"Best gift wrapping I've ever seen," he said, as he bent to kiss the hollow of her throat, first with his lips and then a bit of teeth, which sent shivers through her.

She moved her head back allowing him greater access there, because what had started out tickling had intensified into elation. He stopped long enough to tug her shirt off of her shoulders and down her arms, and she helped him. She felt his intensity in the way he looked at her, the way the camisole sheathed her breasts. They hardened just under his gaze and ached to be touched by the fingers that had strummed their way through her shirt. But he just looked at her, his eyes suddenly difficult to read.

"What is it Houston?"

He smoothed her camisole against her body, and backed away.

"I can't do this," he said, "This was what wasn't going to happen."

She tilted her head looking at him, feeling suddenly exposed but not about to cover up. After all, she had done nothing wrong and she wanted his hands back where they belonged, on her breasts.

"Why," she said, "I'm a woman and I know what I want and it's right in front of me and I know you want me."

"How do you know that?"

She smiled at him and deftly reached forward with one of her hands and damn it if she didn't place it on what threatened to burst out of his jeans. She fondled it lightly before cupping her hand over it in a way that made him groan. But she never watched what her hand did, her eyes never left his while she felt the heat of him through his clothing.

"Don't do that…"

She looked at him without blinking but kept her hand on his groin.

"Do what?"

Then she gently squeezed him through the denim and he nearly jumped.

"Oh you mean that…but it feels so good though it'd feel a lot better somewhere else…"

He sighed, of course knowing exactly what he meant and if she weren't careful with her teasing, she'd find out quicker than she could blink. Didn't she know she was playing with fire here?

"C.J., I need you to stop for a moment,"

Some of the hardest words he had said in a long time and she just looked at him but she removed her hand off of his crotch. She looked at him more than a bit irritated by the interruptions.

"Why?"

"Because then there will be no going back…"

She sighed.

"I don't want to go back," she said, "I want this…I don't want to leave here without knowing what it's like to be with you. What's wrong with that?"

He shook his head.

"How many guys have you been with C.J.?"

She just looked at him blankly.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

He didn't answer her question.

"How many…?"

She just stared at him and then she started to slide off the hay bale. He grabbed hold of her before she got too far and she struggled.

"Let me go Matt," she said, "and I'll leave you alone."

He gazed in her face and saw pain there intertwined with frustration and want. She had stopped trying to pull away from his hold.

"Maybe a couple?"

She just shook her head at him this time.

"So what if that were true…what does that matter?"

He released his grip on her and rubbed the back of his neck while just looking at her sitting there with her camisole, wishing he could trace her hardened nipples with his fingers.

"It means that there's a world of difference between you and me," he said, "and that means not doing it and not like this."

She just looked exasperated more than moved by his words. No actually she looked angry but like she'd choose her words carefully like the lawyer she was training to be.

"Like what, we haven't even done anything," she said, "Where does it matter where we get it on if we both want it?"

"C.J.…"

"And don't tell me you don't…because what I felt through your Levis just made a liar out of you."

He reached out to stroke the hair off of her face. She looked angry at him but he couldn't just treat her like that and then pull up his pants afterward. After all, he had played poker with the other hands to stop any other man from doing that to her. Was he any better than he if he engaged in that behavior?

He'd gone soft for a moment, everywhere but inside his pants but he'd better get her moving on out of here before he changed his mind.

She watched the emotions play out on his face and she just wanted to hit him. He was going to say thanks but no thanks and walk away from her, leaving her with damaged pride and a discarded shirt.

No way in hell was she about to let that happen.


	4. Chapter 4

They just stared at each other, clearly at an impasse which C.J. thought was just plain silly.

She knew they both wanted the same thing, to get into each other's pants but Matt had all of a sudden developed a conscience. Not to mention that he developed one for her as well as if she needed it. She didn't want him to try to decide things for her out of friendship or worse…out of anything he felt that he owed her for pulling him out of the abyss.

He'd gotten his own ass out of his pit of despair. She'd just given it a swift kick when he needed it. She remembered how upset his father had been when Matt had spent his days drinking and his nights carousing after coming back from Iraq. Two young men gone off in search of adventure and to test themselves and only one of them came home.

So she and Bill had put their heads together and their hearts on hold for what they needed to do, which was to get down and dirty with the man they both loved. Tough love, some called it but it had exacted a price on both of them. Matt still bristled under the authority his father had exerted over his grown son and as for her…maybe he felt a bit guilty about how badly he'd treated her.

She could forgive that…because she'd seen inside his soul where the darkness that he'd seen threatened to consume him. But if he started being bossy, the gloves came off.

What she needed for him to do was to stop lecturing her about what she needed and start giving her what they both wanted right?

"We don't have to do it on the hay bale," she said softly, "there's always the cot in the groom's room."

He looked in that direction clearly giving it some thought even though he had just sworn to her nothing was going to happen between them. Oh, she could come up with a list of ways to make the worst liar in the county out of him in just under a minute.

Beginning with that she had felt trying to break out of his denim pants, it had felt amazing beneath her fingers even sheathed by the cloth. She couldn't wait to get up close and personal with it. But the way Matt looked at her now, he didn't look convinced.

"It's too small…"

"Not if we cuddle up close it's not," she said, "We could start with missionary and work our way from there."

Ooh, that got his attention and she saw him catch his breath. His hands clenched at his side, she knew so they wouldn't follow the impulse burning through him to reach out and touch her.

"C.J. what's gotten into you?"

She smiled.

"Nothing yet cowboy…maybe if you stopped talking…"

She wanted him to speak in other ways instead starting with his hands.

To trace the lace of her camisole and slip his hands beneath it to palm her breasts which felt so damn heavy right now, wanting a man's hands on them, especially those laced with calluses from a lifetime of field work. But his hands remained obediently at his sides so she lifted up her own hands and palmed her breasts, while rubbing the fabric of the camisole against them.

That felt pretty good, of course not as good as if he'd been doing it but he clearly needed some coaching.

"Oh god…"

Did that come from her or from him? She'd been thinking that just now but his lips were parted slightly as if he'd actually said it.

"They're all yours tonight if you want…all you got to do is reach out and touch them."

Oh but he seemed loathed to do that, was she really that unlike his other women or was his conscience much stronger than she'd ever guessed? Okay, now it might be the right time to peel her camisole right off of her body and liberate what it covered. She reached for it and he stopped her.

"Don't you dare...!"

She arched her brow at him, her fingers frozen on her camisole.

"Dare what…oh this…don't you want to see what's underneath?"

He closed his eyes briefly then and she knew when he took a gander at her creamy soft breasts, with nipples painted like wild roses, he'd have to adjust those jeans. She knew that nature had been generous with her though she hadn't always appreciated it. When he saw them for the first time, would he be able to keep his hands off of them?

God, she hoped not.

"You need to get your shirt…"

She folded her arms.

"Hell no, didn't you listen to what I said? I'm not lying for you and if you want me to sell your story, you know what I need first."

He sighed, his breath more ragged.

"How do you even know what you need?"

Her eyes flashed again and he knew she was getting angry which made her look all the sexier. That he didn't need right now so he tried to calm her down like he might an irate filly.

"Hey forget I said that," he said, "but you know what I mean. You acting like this all a sudden."

She shrugged.

"That's why I'm here," she said, "I want to do like you guys do, have some fun. What's there to say no to?"

Oh Matt thought he didn't know how to respond to that.

Looking at her standing there in her camisole and jeans that hugged that ass so nicely made it harder for him to do that…especially since a part of him wanted so badly to be released.

A vision of her pulling it out of his jeans he should just stop there before his heart stopped beating. She'd do it in a second if he asked, and he still didn't know why. What had gotten into his best friend?

She hadn't been drinking and hadn't hit her head on something hard as far as he knew.

Her lips parted in ways that….he had to figure a way out of this situation quickly. But his libido began to argue with him, his hands itched to touch her skin, to trace every inch of it in exploration. She seemed to read his mind because she began rubbing her camisole in a way that proved maddening to a man trying to keep his hands to himself. Did she know it was like sticking her fingers in a tiger's cage after he hadn't been fed in a week?

No clearly not, because she just smiled at him, licking her lips, the moistness of them made his body tense. Damn he needed it badly and he was losing patience.

But he'd promised himself he'd never look at her that way. As just another woman he'd coax into his bed.

If he lost control…no not an option. He needed her to do as he asked and go along with his story and then they could both just walk on out of there so they could each cool off.

"Like I said, I'm not leaving…"

His heart beat inside his chest, his skin tingled at the sight of her playing with the edge of her camisole teasing him. He grabbed her hand with his own to stop her and then he kissed her before he knew it.

It just happened like that.

His lips grasped at hers hungrily, nipping at the corners before he thrust his tongue into her mouth, rimming the inside with its tip. She gasped but didn't back away from him, rather she placed her hands on his hips while he circled her tongue with his own. That made her moan, and lean against him.

He felt his fingers inch towards her camisole and then slide underneath. Just an inch, brushing against the bare skin of her abdomen. She leaned against him even further and when she felt his bulge against her, she just looked at him.

That broke the spell and again he appeared tense.

"C.J. I can't…"

She looked straight at him.

"Oh yes you can…I need this and so do you…"

She reached for his hand then and placed it on her chest. She kept her gaze on him so he wouldn't break away and remember where she'd placed his hand. But the more he moved his fingers on her, the more she purred.

"Oh god…"

Now she knew he had said it and his face…he looked more relaxed but his eyes still remained locked in hers.

"Let's take this to the other room okay?"

She said that softly, but her voice carried the tension of holding back from the sensations he was giving her. That familiar ache in her pelvis, she needed something to fill it, something hard and unyielding.

He shook his head.

"No…not here…not in the barn…"

She looked up at him suddenly and he removed his hand from where it had felt so good.

"Then where?"

He paused, looking agitated and she bit back a smile. What was wrong with him, she could fix.

"The empty cabin behind the barn," he said, "No one's using it."

She nodded, remembering that after Doc left last month, it had remained vacant. Oh, it would still be furnished and even cleaned up for the next tenant but no one would suspect anyone of using it.

"So you want in…"

He looked at her and stroked her face.

"Oh yeah, I want in but are you sure that's what you want?"

She stared back at him.

"Yeah isn't that just what I said?"

He looked at her intently, enough so she could make out the golden flecks in his brown eyes.

"Well you better decide now because once we get in the cabin…"

She heard what he said and her heart skipped a beat, her blood raced because she couldn't wait to meet the side of him she'd seen hints of but never met.

"It'll be my rules…"

Okay, she could deal with that because after all, he had all the experience and like he said, she had none.

"I like to be in control, are you fine with that?"

She sighed impatiently.

"Can we just leave before you change your mind again?"

He stroked a tendril of hair off of her face.

"Oh I'm not changing it," he said, "I'm giving you a chance to do that."

But no, she had no intention of doing that, not before they'd even really gotten started. She knew what she wanted on this warm summer night.

"I'm not changing it…so forget that and just focus on how badly you want me."

Oh, that made his eyes dilate as he studied her and then he deftly pushed her against the hay bale, deftly opening up her thighs with his jean clad one.

"What…"

"Just a little taste of what you're in for…"

With that, he lifted his thigh up to where her jeans cloaked her pelvis and began rubbing it back and forth…and when the sensations first reached her, she fought not to cry out. But he kept nudging up the friction bit by bit until she bit her lip, while her body throbbed.

"You like that?"

She just nodded unable to speak.

"Then just imagine me sliding in that same sweet spot, back and forth..."

She just tried to breathe while he intensified the rubbing against her crotch. When she tried to fidget, he pressed her against the bale.

"You're sure you're ready for that?"

She looked into his eyes and she wondered at that for a moment now that she knew it was time to get down and dirty.

But by that point, she only had one answer left to give him.


	5. Chapter 5

He kissed her again before they left the barn and she felt those delightful shivers through her body again. She placed her hands on his chest, but while his lips worked hers, she started clawing at it with her nails. Damn, where had this guy learned to kiss, if it could be called that at all?

Then she remembered that he'd gotten a lot of practice at it and other things. It's not as if there'd been a shortage of willing women in Matt's life.

Beginning back in high school where the prettiest of them had competed with each other openly for the star quarterback. Most of them cheerleaders like some bad cliché. He'd been popular not aligning himself with one group but moving confidently within the cliques.

It wasn't all about his looks either or the cool factor, Matt had always been a genuinely nice guy underneath the wrapping. A guy she now enjoyed kissing.

His lips might be the only soft part of him, but they were firm enough to trail across her skin and leave a mark even if you couldn't see it. His mustache and the stubble on his jaw tickled and tormented her at the same time, as he slid his tongue in between her mouth. Not asking, but taking possession of it. She felt a jolt through her of wildness that originated inside him and she felt it and wanted more…what would his mouth feel like on other parts of her.

The nape of her neck, that stretch of skin between her neck and her shoulders….her breasts which hardened just at the thought of it and…oh man, she definitely wanted that mouth…she'd better stop thinking about all the places.

She sighed fidgeting as he kissed her jaw line.

"Are we ever going to get out of here?"

"Shhh…in a minute," he said, "You sure you want to rush into bed?"

"Well I want to get this party started," she said, "and find out what's underneath your clothes."

He chuckled and kissed her again, his hands splayed on her back, caressing it in ways that made her suck in her breath more than once.

"I thought you might want to take it a little slow"

She snorted.

"I've been taking it slow since I arrived here…and I've been waiting so I think it's time to show me what you got in those pants."

He sucked in his breath then at his boldness. Sometimes she acted like a little minx teasing him in ways men shouldn't be teased. Not when they were rock hard in their jeans and one feminine touch would set their skin on fire. If she weren't careful, she'd be introduced to his rope collection at some point tonight. Roping cattle had earned him some nice belt buckles but it wasn't his only talent with a lasso.

"So you ready cowboy?"

But then again, if she was looking for a hearts and flowers guy, she was definitely in the wrong place. Then he remembered what was in his pocket anted into the pot during the poker match.

"I've brought something so we're covered."

She smiled at him and touched his face with her fingers.

"That's okay, I'm covered," she said, "I'm on the pill…"

That astonished him.

"You're what…but…"

She sighed, furrowing her brow in a way that made him want to reach out with his fingers to smooth the tension out of her.

"Shut up Houston," she said, "I don't want to hear about it. You are not the expert of me."

He chuckled.

"Yeah I know that," he said "You never cease to amaze me Miz Parsons."

She smiled at him.

"Better believe it," she said, "I'm not your typical woman Houston."

His brows arched.

"What makes you the expert of me?"

"Touché."

He cupped her face in his hands, not surprising her with his gentleness.

"I just want it to be special."

Oh that riled her up again as she just looked up at him. Why did he treat her as someone to take care of, to protect like a china doll dressed in bubble wrap inside a box?

"Houston, I never had you pegged as a romantic," she said, "but that's not what I need or want."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want some of that raw power of yours," she said, "and don't worry about hurting me with it. I'm tougher than I look."

"I know that….but this isn't about being tough enough to drag a snake bit man two miles back to the ranch."

Oh he remembered that too.

"I know what it's about," she said, "It's about what we both want. So why don't we get started?"

He just looked at her as if he still couldn't believe it or her. Could he really be this dense with all the women?

"So why don't you show me this cabin…beginning with the bedroom."

He smiled at her eagerness which matched that which sprung up inside himself though he kept it hidden.

"Who says we're starting in the bedroom?"

She went to grab her shirt and slipped it back on her camisole, buttoning it up too quickly to line them up right. Oh well, it'd just be coming back off again when they reached the cabin so no worries there.

He looked at her and slipping his arm around her shoulder, they walked to the entrance and opened the door.

Quietness met them instead of a group of horny ranch hands living vicariously through Matt tonight while he nailed his prize. They walked across the clearing to the other side of the barn and she saw the cabin ahead. It was fairly crude from the outside but actually boasted plumbing inside including a bathroom, just next to the kitchenette. She knew this because she had cleaned it out between residents.

The large sized bed was in the living room across from the fireplace and next to a small office area. Comforters were folded at the edge of the bed and it had two nice pillows, and unlike many of the beds on the ranch, it was postered. When he opened up the door, it was the first thing she saw when he flipped on the lights switch, the setting where she'd finally know what all the fuss was about. The thought of that quickened her breath and she felt nervous for the first time. She had fantasized about a moment like this but never thought it'd happen.

He picked it up and looked at her.

"Having second thoughts?"

She shook her head.

"No…are you?"

He responded by wrapping his arms around her and pulling into another one of his toe curling kisses. Gently sucking on her mouth while he claimed it, and this time she slid her tongue inside his mouth first, marveling in his taste. God, the little minx, he thought, darting it around in dizzying circles inside, flirting with his own tongue. Just like that, she had turned the tables on that kiss. She reached down and cupped his ass in her hands and squeezed it.

"C.J.…"

She broke the kiss and just looked at him.

"You don't like a woman's hands on your ass," she said, "I'm going to need something to hold onto when we go riding."

His breath hissed at her words and he ran his fingers over her back itching to take another look at that camisole before he ripped it right off of her.

"I like it just fine," he said, "I thought you'd want to slow this down a notch now that we're here."

She looked around the room again as if it hit her then. Yeah, she was here with more than six feet of red blooded man, his lips had left her mouth tingling and the feel of his hard body, weakened her legs. She probably knew the affect she had on him.

Did she really have any idea of what she was in for with him? She didn't look like at this point she even cared. He just looked at her and then he stepped away from her. Not the direction he wanted to go because his fingers itched to tear through those buttons of her shirt. But…instead he stood back and watched.

"Take it off…your shirt," he said, "And work every button…no rushing, I want to see every little bit of your skin at a time."

She just shot a look at him and he thought she might argue but she just swallowed and her fingers reached for her top button. Did they tremble slightly as she worked it loose or was that his imagination? Her face still had that brazen look and her body stood poised as if she knew what she was doing with him. If she had any nervousness, any fears beneath the surface in what lay ahead, he'd discover them soon enough.

Her speed quickened a bit as she worked her way down her shirt, and his eyes widened at the sight of the camisole teasing him from underneath it. Oh, he loved the silky feel of it under his hands but even it had to come off soon. But not right away, he thought because he wanted the unwrapping of his prize to take place slowly…

She reached the bottom finally and tentatively slid the shirt off of her shoulders and let it fall on the floor. His hands oh, they itched to slide over the sheerness of it and then peel it off slowly, from the top or bottom, didn't matter as long as he could see her skin beneath.

Not to mention those breasts, he had felt the nipples against him already, and he wanted at some point to suck them one at a time inside his mouth, to see if they tasted like ripe cherries. But not now…he had to control himself because he didn't want her to run out of the cabin. Despite her bravado, Matt knew she rode a razor fine line between desire and fear, the combination of which intoxicated him. It was new territory for the both of them and he felt it keenly too. He shifted his position, as he watched her looking at him.

"Now the jeans…slowly…I want to enjoy every inch of those nice long legs," he said, "and find out what color panties you've been wearing."

She sighed.

"I like all colors," she said, "It's the only way I remember that I'm a woman sometimes."

He chuckled heartedly, his chest rumbling.

"Oh I can help you with that problem," he said, "find all different kinds of ways to remind you what you are C.J..."

She cast him a challenging look even while she stood there wearing fewer clothes than him.

"And what's that?"

He licked his lips.

"A woman only too aware of her effect on the men around her," he said, "Including me."

Her voice caught.

"Oh I know…I've always known," she said, "I'm just not running away…"

He saw her tremble then and her hands moved to the snap on her jeans as she unbuttoned it while he watched. She unzipped them and slowly slid them over her hips and down her thighs, and lo and behold, she wore some black bikini panties, the silkiness sheathing her sex. Oh man, he liked the way the cut accentuated her tanned legs, marred only by a silvery scar across one where some barbed wire had caught her when she got thrown by a horse. He'd trail kisses all the way up to it, when he had the chance.

But first things first…she had to lose those pants all the way. She watched him carefully as she did just that, after removing her boots. She had to lean against the closest wall to do that which didn't bother him because the wall would come in handy sometime that night. She kicked them off and stood in front of him with several pieces of lacy fabric shielding her body from his eyes which would burn through them if they could.

She swallowed her throat dry at the gaze in his eyes. Her muscles tensed because she knew he'd make short work of what was left of her clothes.

She'd watched him working in the field for years. He had the speed and agility to dodge charging bulls and catch wayward yearlings. He could walk two steps in a flash and probably find a way to have his cock inside of her in nothing flat. The thought excited her because if she didn't see it coming, maybe then she could focus on the sensations of him fucking her.

But he just stood there, fighting some basal instincts she knew and she felt naked for the first time in his presence.

"You want me to take it all off?"

He shook his head.

"No I want you to do a few things for me first," he said, "Now relax, they're going to be fun and make you feel really good."

She felt skepticism creep through her. She had thought that once they hit the cabin and closed the door, that he'd be on her in a flash, the clothes would go flying off and they'd be rolling in the sack as if they'd waited too long already. She didn't get all this buildup. She didn't need it, really. She needed him rough edges and all and she needed it now.

Now if she could just convince him of that, she thought as they stood watching each other, the sound of their breathing filling the room.

But what came next, she didn't anticipate.


	6. Chapter 6

Had he just told her to stand still?

C.J. asked herself when all she wanted to do was move her body against his, even though it hardly seemed fair that he still had all his clothes on.

While she stood in front of him dressed only in a camisole and panties, and the dampness in between her legs reminded her of what she wanted. She folded her arms as he stared at her, watching him carefully too. If she took her eyes off of him for one second, would he choose that moment to sweep her off the ground and take her to the bed?

"So what do we do now?"

He just smiled at her.

"Because I'm just about naked and you're still dressed."

He sighed taking one step closer to her.

"Not nearly naked enough," he said, "but I want you to do something for me."

She tried to keep her voice calm, to see nonchalant, though her heart pounded in her ears.

"What?"

"Tell me this is what you really want."

"Houston…what about you," she said, "you starting to have second thoughts?"

He looked directly at her and shook his head.

"Now you tell me what you want."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"I thought I made that clear cowboy. I want what's right in front of me."

He tilted his face.

"Okay then. Take off the rest of your clothes…"

She folded her arms looking straight back at him. Damn he was testing her again in that infuriating way he used.

"If you're man enough, you'd do it yourself."

He chuckled again clearly amused rather than offended.

"Oh I plan to do that, but ladies first…"

She snorted.

"I'm not a lady…"

"Oh I know that C.J.. It's just an expression."

"I know…"

She shrugged and she reached lift up her camisole rubbing the fabric against her breasts. But she stopped, her face flushing.

"This is hard with you standing there and watching."

He didn't move an inch or flinch a muscle.

"Then close your eyes until you feel you can't any longer."

So she did that and she relaxed as she stroked her breast through the material and felt the tingling reach beneath as her breasts firmed and when she cupped them, she arched her body to increase those sensations.

She thought she heard him groaning but continued, playing with the lace as she moved her hands over her chest in the guise of removing her camisole. As she continued, she felt turned on not just by her own touch but knowing that the man she had used in her fantasies was watching her, just a few feet away.

"C.J. you feeling a bit shy there?"

She blew a tendril of hair away from her face.

"I don't think so…a crime against a lady taking her time with her clothes?"

Something crept in her voice which she didn't want him to hear, the part of her that didn't treat this as if it were ordinary. She couldn't let any man see that part of herself even him.

Especially him. He could hurt her more than any other man had ever done. Even…she bit her lip and focused back on disrobing. She flirted with stroking her abdomen, the strip of it that showed between her camisole and her panties.

So she flirted with her abdomen, the strip of it that showed between the camisole and her panties. When she tried to slide her fingers beneath her panties, he put a stop to that pretty quick.

"What the hell you doing?"

She arched a brow at him.

"I think it's pretty obvious to someone like you."

"No…only mine will touch you there," he said, "now get undressed."

She exhaled at that because she had felt the stirrings of tension winding up deep inside of her pushing her close to the abyss but only teasingly so. Oh what he promised…but she felt herself weakening. Now that she was getting down to it…the realness of it and the emotions it evoked in her…made it damn tough to be casual.

"I don't know if I can…"

"Oh yes you can," he said, "just think about how primed that body's going to be for what's coming later on by the time I get done."

Okay, she could handle that so she intensified the pressure of her fingers trying to slide her camisole up.

"Promises, promises…"

He growled at that and she watched him approach her, sliding his hands up her outer arms until they settled on her shoulders.

"I don't make promises I don't keep."

"Neither do I."

Then he did something that really shook her up. He slid one hand underneath her panties while looking straight at her. She felt his calluses rubbing against her so intimately it caused a hitch in her breathing. Damn him, he had gone straight for the prize.

"You like that," he said, "Don't you…"

"Mmmmmm…."

He continued fondling her where it felt so damn hot. If she surrendered it her legs would buckle sending her to the floor unless he caught her.

The power he held over her with that one single act threatened to overwhelm her; she couldn't let him have it. But getting the words out proved to be damn difficult.

"So what do you want in return or are you into having all the control over a woman?"

He just smiled, his damn fingers kept playing with more than just her body.

"Is control important to you?"

A wave of emotion swept over her even as the anticipation of pleasure grew inside of her.

"Sometimes…"

"Forget those times. It's not always necessary to be in control."

She snorted lightly.

"Spoken like a typical man…you're not a woman Houston and you can't ever do that."

His face was next to her ear.

"You can with me…"

But she shook her head.

"No…not with anyone…or…"

Her voice trailed off as the sensations he elicited coiled up inside of her abdomen.

"I need you Houston…"

She didn't even try to hide her emotions that fed that statement and he looked at her thoughtfully as his hands rode over her breasts which caused a gasp to escape her lips, but he didn't remain there nearly long enough. He moved towards the hem of her camisole and then he tugged it upward and she realized what he was doing.

So she helped him by lifting her arms off so he could slip it off of her, leaving her dark curls brushing in front of her shoulders and her full breasts exposed to him for the first time. Oh god, when he saw them what did he think. She liked her breasts once she stopped fearing the response they elicited in the men around her.

Matt moved his hands to his own shirt and whipped it off more quickly, exposing that magnificent chest of his that rippled with muscles from a life of hard work, and sprigs of dark hair she longed to twist around her fingers to see if he'd like it. His abs were hard and taut and she saw where a stripe of dark hair disappeared beneath his jeans. Oh, they definitely had to come off soon, to put them on more equal footing.

He pressed her against the wall then, his weight preventing her movement but the way the hair on his chest teased her breasts before flattening them, she didn't care and his mouth assaulted her neck coaxing the skin inside, just enough to fit between his teeth. A gentle nip or two nearly made her jump.

"So what do you want now," she said, breathing hard.

He smiled lazily, though his eyes looked as charged as she felt.

"I want to taste you…"

His mouth traveled down her neck and in between the hollow of her breasts lapping at the beads of perspiration while she tried not to hyperventilate. If she fainted, would he catch her?

He slid his mouth around her breasts kissing them while he palmed them and god, if she didn't arch against him begging for more, she'd go crazy. He flirted with her nipples as she braced herself for when he'd slip one in his mouth. He tongued them first, tracing the edges of the aureole all the way around. She tried to clench the wall with her fingers but it proved too slippery.

When he popped a nipple in his mouth and suckled on it, she had to fight to keep still for him. Not that she wanted to, but his hand pressed her against the wall and she fidgeted while he sucked her nipple, twirling his tongue around it in his mouth.

Far from hard and fast he was intent on playing with her at first like he did now. She felt so on edge that one nudge would send her toppling and that's when Matt's mouth left her breasts and descended even lower. Some kisses on her belly, a tongue lick in her navel that sent an electric charge through her and then…

"Houston…"

Her voice more ragged than a moment ago but he was getting too damn close too fast.

"C.J.…just relax and go with it…"

He returned to mouthing her nipples and she felt her body tense up in anticipation.

"Oh….god…"

Then something else appeared on her face and he stopped. Something had changed between them.

Was she about to leave him, was what they shared too intense, he knew that if she felt she were weak in front of him, she'd bolt.

She'd leave the cabin even barely dressed. Reaching down for her panties, she pulled them back up, her fingers trembling while looking at him. The bravado had left her face and what replaced it, flashed by too quickly for him to keep up.

Maybe it was time to find some rope but before he could move away he had a better idea.


	7. Chapter 7

Matt looked at the woman who had just pulled up her panties in front of him and decided to forget the rope tonight. He didn't know what had just happened that had put her in flight mode.

She looked him in the eye, the man who now held her between a wall and his even harder body. While his eyes appraised here, hers were on the door.

"Don't go. When you came here with me, you knew what you wanted."

"So did you when you won that poker match."

"Stay the night and we can both get what we want."

She shook her head.

"No…you'll get everything."

"You changing your mind. That's okay if you are but can you tell me why?"

"You wouldn't understand Houston…"

"Why wouldn't I?"

She sighed, standing there so still.

"You've gotten every woman you've ever wanted since high school," she said, "and without looking back. Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging you. I wanted to be like that too…"

He shook his head.

"Why…would you want that? C.J…there's nothing wrong with being different…from anyone else especially me."

She narrowed her eyes.

"You saying you aren't in to casual…but Houston it's what you do. You're so damn good at it too."

He sighed.

"Ever wonder why that is? Sometimes I do…"

"Really? Why is that? It's a lot easier your way Houston…"

He fingered a strand of hair off of her face.

"Easier's not always better…"

She appeared to digest that.

"But I still want to try…so why don't we?"

He pressed his body against hers knowing exactly what she meant but long enough in her arms, she might become putty. She didn't know the affect that he had on her…not yet. But she still had an eye on the damn door.

"Don't go."

She sighed, her breath still uneven.

"You're in my way."

He braced himself by placing his hands on the wall on either side of her and he looked intently into her eyes, searing a pathway there.

"We're not done."

Oh she knew that was true but she'd ceded him too much control over her already. She never wanted any man to think he owned her even for a moment and when she had been writhing under his fingers and his mouth, she sensed his possession and now, she knew it hadn't been enough for him.

Not to mention what it did for her.

"There's so much more I want to do with you."

She felt heady from the intensity of his words and her body tensed again.

"But you still have your pants on," she said to keep it light.

"I can fix that," he answered with a smile.

He watched her carefully while he unsnapped his pants, lowered his zipper and pushed his jeans down his thighs sculpted by years in the saddle not to mention hiking through every kind of terrain. He wore black briefs and now with most of his clothes off, he looked as magnificent as she'd imagined in her fantasies.

She thought he'd discard his briefs as well but he reached for her again, his hands settling on her shoulders and he kissed her mouth, more intently than earlier. Her own lips felt invigorated and responded, her hands touching his bare chest. His muscles there twitched beneath her fingers and she marveled at the warmth of his skin.

She knew he wasn't the only one simmering inside with heat.

He reached his hands in front of her and palmed her breasts while he slipped his tongue in between her lips. His hands nearly spanned their roundness and he massaged them gently while tonguing inside her mouth. The pressure of his hands there felt wondrous and she sighed as he used that to pin her against the wall again while he explored her mouth again. She felt the reverberations of pleasure from what he did to her threaten to overwhelm her again and she pushed the feeling of losing herself away. He just felt too damn good right now.

She felt a thigh wedge in between her legs as Matt parted them gently enough to stand in between them. His body pushing against hers in ways that made her gasp…and then almost recover.

"It's all yours if you want it," he whispered.

She tried to breathe through the whirlwind of feelings that pulsated from inside her. It felt so damn good the friction he built up between them, enhanced by their clothing. If she weren't careful, he'd know how much.

It'd be better for her if she could just focus on the pleasure and not keep score on what they did to one another. But it didn't feel safer to just bow to the pleasure building up again inside her. It made her feel uneasiness interlaced with the passion he evoked in her. His lips worked hard to convince her otherwise, and slowly she felt her resolve melt away.

"So where do you want it to be…right here or on the bed?"

She felt at a loss for words as his lips moved down her neck and he moved his body even closer as he reached down to grab her ass, lifting her up slightly to rock against it. Damn him for that.

But she couldn't find the words.

"I…"

Matt watched her closely, his own body driving him crazy by now, needing release inside of her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her at this point.

The way her pelvis sculpted her panties, like her breasts had her camisole left him with the task of trying to hold onto his self-control. He reached out to caress her lower face and she actually leaned into his caresses, looking at him.

"It's going to be an amazing experience C.J.…"

Her eyes knit in concentration but her body relaxed a bit, enough so that when he kissed her this time, more softly, like warm breath on her lips, she let him. His body pressed her against the wall again and damn, he felt rock hard against her. She felt her pussy ache for what it needed and what she wanted.

"Take them off…"

She looked up at him suddenly, and she shook her head.

"I'm not taking my underwear off first…"

He sighed.

"Then take off mine."

She blinked her eyes and then she reached out her hands because she just had to see what lay beneath his briefs. When she brushed her fingers against his bulge, he hitched his breathing and that gave her the confidence to continue. She slipped her fingers underneath the waistband and sliding his briefs over his gorgeous ass and oh…my…her mouth dropped when she took at him completely naked for the first time.

"You like this don't you…?"

He didn't answer her, he didn't even look at her and she knew she held the power in her hands now. So she kept both hands on his cock, exploring it while he fought to keep from squirming. Headiness filled her as she saw his struggle, and she thought about how much he'd like it when she substituted one of her hands with her mouth.

"I want to taste you…"

His breath caught in his throat.

"Not now…It'll be over before it starts."

She tilted her head still toying with that part of him with her thumb including that sweet spot underneath, the one that nearly had him jumping out of his skin.

"Don't worry about that," she promised.

Looking at her, he had no doubt she would, damn when she had grabbed hold of him, her nervousness had faded again. Good, let her feel as if she controlled him and when he turned the tables on her, she'd be too far gone with pleasure to care. Surrendering himself to a woman, he'd just never done it, that's all.

"Later…right now I've got other things I want to do."

She sucked in her breath looking at him without letting go of him but when he pressed against her this time, his body rubbed against hers. Her hands moved reflexively to his ass and she felt the power in the muscles there as he tensed them to keep from thrusting.

"I need you now…"

His voice sounded hoarse and the hardness of him teased her. But this time she squirmed away from his embrace and now stood behind him.

She tossed him a smile and a few bold words.

"Then come and get me…"


	8. Chapter 8

Damn, Matt thought, maybe he did need that rope after all.

Some fillies needed to be lassoed and trussed up and not be playing with a stallion's libido. He'd always picked the brand with the softest feel against a filly's sensitive skin and approached her slowly before tying her up.

That's the way he'd handled female horses. But while he'd been tempted a time or two that's not how he handled his women. He knew that C.J. wouldn't take to that at all.

She stood there watching him from across the room, breathtaking in her wild beauty, her hair cascading around her and her toned body wearing only some sinfully cut panties. Matt was a patient man on the ranch, they didn't come any more so than him and sometimes the other ranch hands had to check to make sure he wasn't asleep on his feet when trouble struck. But no, right now his eyes never left her. She didn't look nervous or scared, but she didn't look like she was going to do what he wanted, when he wanted it.

"So what you going to do big guy…"

His mouth remained in a line, but his eyes harbored amusement.

"Get on the bed C.J.…"

She folded her arms covering those fine looking breasts. Oh he wasn't having that, and if he couldn't find any rope in the damn cabin, maybe he could just find a belt to tie up her wrists when he caught up with her. Really, he was barely holding onto his patience, his cock was rock hard and throbbing against his abs and his muscles tensed.

"Why…so you can go all Neanderthal on me and tell the other guys afterward?"

"You know me better than that."

"Oh so I do," she said, "Not this side of you."

His face softened.

"C.J., what happens in that bed is between the two of us," he said, "I'm not one to go bragging afterward what I've done with a woman."

She didn't look like she believed him. She'd just got the idea in her head that she might find what they did written up on the side of the barn because no doubt, she had heard the hands talk trash about the women they'd been with since she started working at the ranch. He might be her best friend but he was a guy after all.

"I'll be that woman that slept with the foreman," she said, "and I've worked my ass off trying to prove I'm as good at everything on the ranch as them."

"That's not going to happen C.J..."

"Sure it will and they'll see me coming and then stop talking just looking at each other," she said, "and I can't live like that."

He sighed in frustration.

"Look, I won you in a poker game where we all played to see who'd be hitting the sack with you," he said, "so no matter what happens now, that's what they'll believe we did."

She knew that part of it was true, but she didn't come one step closer to him.

"It's hard being the only woman Matt," she continued, "I need the men to respect me or I won't be good at my job."

This coming from the woman who out rode, out lassoed and once hauled Slim two miles across tough terrain after he got bit by an irate diamondback rattler. He got her point, because the stronger she looked in front of the men, the more they wanted her horizontal where they felt she belonged and she couldn't miss that.

But damn, if she didn't get on the bed right now, he'd just burst. She stood there looking at him, in her near nakedness, her skin already branded by his touch.

Her lips so close to his own, which still tasted her and wanted more.

He stood there naked as the day he'd been born with the worst case of blue balls since he didn't even want to remember.

"You going to get a rope and tie me up Matt?"

He just looked at her inquisitive face. Damn, she knew he'd handled many a four legged filly that way. He picked the response that'd keep her on her toes.

"I'm considering it."

She digested that and he could tell her heart beat as rapidly as his did from across the room. He didn't know if she were seriously reluctant to slip between the sheets with him or whether she was testing him. But whatever her motive, soon enough she'd find out what it was like to play with fire.

"I'm not your filly to control…I don't belong to any man."

"Never said you did," he said, "but this isn't about belonging to anyone. It's about having a good time."

She didn't answer that because he thought he might accuse her of being a tease next but she just watched him. He had to at least even the playing field by getting those panties off of her. She just arched her brow at him again.

"Why don't you let me tie you up instead?"

Oh no, he thought, no way would he allow her that much freedom over him, that much control.

"I could truss you up in that bed and do all kinds of things," she said, "Don't you want me to do that?"

Oh he did, but right now all he could think was about getting her to do what they both wanted. He took one step closer to her and she just watched.

He knew she wanted to be caught, she wanted him to approach her, to take charge and grab hold of that wiggling body of hers and put her in the center of the bed. She wanted him to pin her to the mattress and feel him so deeply inside of her she didn't know where he ended and she began.

Foreplay as they called it had proven to be an arduous task, harder than herding stubborn yearlings into a corral for sure. He'd just make sure all this work was worth it when he achieved his goal.

So he took another step forward.

"Didn't you like what we just shared?"

She took a step backward and found her back against a wall. Not a good situation but his words had begun to weave their spell.

"It wasn't…bad…"

"Liar."

She folded those arms again, blocking his view of her breasts. Oh he had to break her of that habit quick.

"How so?"

"Because I heard those little cries you make when you're trying so hard to keep from showing when you like it, you really shouldn't bother hiding it because when you do, your face turns a nice shade of scarlet."

She dropped her mouth open.

"I'm dying to see that again but we both know what we got to do first," he said, "So I'm asking for you to get on that bed unless you want me to take you against that wall right now."

Oh her eyes widened involuntarily as she got a sense of what it'd be like to have over 200 pounds of raw power, all muscle picking her up by her ass and then he'd be where they both needed him to be, where she could feel all of him. Rocking her against the wall, the friction would just about kill her. They'd probably crack the damn wall in the process.

Oh, but the pleasure he'd give her. He might be a man who enjoyed dominating his women but he wasn't entirely selfish or stingy considering he'd gotten her off twice already and her, well she hadn't done anything for him.

Pretty damn selfish on her part, she realized. Maybe it was time to just take one step closer to him.

Then just like that, he was right up against her, his hands on her body and his mouth over hers, not allowing her any chance of escape. Pinning her in with his large hands on either side of her as he worshipped her mouth in that way he had that left her spinning.

Out of control, mustn't lose control or she'd never get it back. Would that really be so bad? No, it'd be so good.

"I'll take you right here if you want it but I'm not waiting any longer…"

She breathed against his chest, where she smelled his musk, it surrounded her and she found herself hungry for him too. Her mouth answered his by kissing him frantically, on his lips, around them and she felt his stubble tickle her chin.

"I need you too Houston…god…but…"

He spanned his waist with her hands and his body pressed against hers too damn intimately. She quivered just from that from the knowledge that one careful stroke, one deliberate movement of his powerful body and everything between them would change.

The reality of it elated her. The realization of that filled her with fear too. No, she couldn't allow him to make her feel that way, how would she go out and do her work knowing she'd slept with her foreman, the oldest cliché in the book.

Primal and seeping with machismo in a world that thrived on both, she'd always known that even as she struggled to find her way through it. Realizing that her biggest bargaining chip wasn't the brain between her ears but someplace else. She hated the truth behind that in the world that raised her from the cradle.

She sighed against him as he thrust gently, just enough to tease her with the promise of what he could fill it with if she'd just let him. She felt the tension of his body, of what could be unleashed any moment, and then he really wouldn't be able to stop. She caressed the tautness of his arms, corded with muscle that strained under his attempts to not take her hard against the wall.

"Houston…I need you…"

He kissed her neck, grabbing some skin in between his teeth, gently biting as his hands slid underneath the waistband of her panties and he began to lower them off of her body. She tensed then and looked at him.

If he removed him, she'd lose her edge over him.

His voice turned raspy.

"I need you too."

She pressed the top of her head into his chest as she pressed the nakedness of her pelvis against his for the first time and felt him. His hands moved to cup her ass. He knew that she carried a lot of mixed emotions inside her of what she wanted, and what she feared. She wanted him badly enough so he'd know it

Men and women hooked up around here as soon as their bodies grew up enough to come together that way. He'd lost his own virginity at 15 to the daughter of one of his boss's trainers. She'd been two years older than him and had taken the eager young Matt under her tool age but he remembered how she urged him to keep quiet about it. Difficult considering it had been the landmark experience of his life up to then but he knew how society would crow over his accomplishment and frown in disapproval at her looseness.

He'd be damned if that'd be happening to C.J.

He thought about that as he lowered his mouth on her full lips, caressing them, teasing them as he pressed her against the wall and slowly his thigh began to nudge her legs open just a little bit.

Then she shook her head at him then and pulled away.

"I can't do it here…the bed, it'll be better," she whispered, her eyes probing his and he nodded.

"You ready?"

She nodded slowly and took a deep breath.

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess."

He tilted her face up with a couple of fingers and looked directly into her eyes.

"No guessing here," he said, "either you are or you aren't and you'd better tell me now if you're not."

She looked at him and he saw her struggle with her decision. Not to fuck him but how to live with the action afterward.

He knew of a way to help her with that and it didn't even involve using rope.


	9. Chapter 9

He caressed the hair off of her face, as she looked at him.

"You're so damn beautiful," he said, "I don't know why it took me so damn long to realize that."

She sighed.

"It's mine to decide and I wasn't about to raffle it off when I turned 18 to a bunch of horny men."

He chuckled at that, as he gazed down at the woman he had pinned against the wall.

"I remember the day you turned 18," he said, "When I saw you dancing at the independence party, I almost cut in."

Despite the sensations he elicited in her, she was curious to hear what he did instead.

"Well, why didn't you," she said, "In case you didn't notice, Carlton had his hand on my ass."

That made him frown and his muscles tense against her.

"I almost kicked his ass over that," he said, "You're still a young girl."

"Not a girl, I'm a woman and not much younger than you."

Oh yeah, he knew that, he knew that when he slipped one of her nipples in his mouth, ran his tongue over it and now, with his body pressed against hers. The elation he felt beyond his imagination.

"What would you have done," she said, "Would we have danced?"

"At first," he said, "Close enough for every inch of our bodies to touch, the slow songs only."

She considered that and nodded.

"You should have gone for it Houston," she said, "I never knew you to let an opportunity pass by to get what you wanted."

"You're too damn young."

"Oh but you're not?I'm only a year older now and you've got me buck naked and I can feel how hard you are," she said, "so would we have just danced?"

He sighed.

"Nah, after we danced a couple of songs, I would have said something like we needed to go cool off with some iced sweet tea…"

She chuckled, despite the way her heart raced right now.

"Oh really, and you would have heated up things instead?"

He smiled, at the easygoing banter between them now, it all came down to how you handled a woman and he knew C.J. enough to know how to handle that.

"Oh yeah, you see we'd have gone inside the barn and if we had…this poker match tonight never would have taken place."

She got that stubborn glint in her eyes again.

"There are a lot of ropes inside the barn," she said, "Was that what you had planned?"

He stroked her face again, his fingers casually moving down the side of her neck.

"No actually, no need for them" he said, "not when you have a gift for sweet talking."

She laughed not able to help it. The audacity of the man in front of her. Yeah he'd been successful with most any girl he wanted but none of them were her.

"You would have talked me out of my underwear?"

He nodded looking almost too sure of himself.

Her brow arched.

"How do you know I'd been wearing any?"

He looked at her, his eyes widening slightly and she smiled.

"I got you. Matt, I'm not some trembling girl like you think and I'm not easy either."

He cupped her chin in his hand, stroking her lips with his thumb.

"I know you're not C.J.," he said, "but I'm done talking about how I would have taken you last year and I want to show you how I'm going to take you now."

If she looked taken aback by his firm tone, she didn't say anything. But when he grabbed hold of her, she felt his lips do a slow burn on her mouth this time as he pressed her against the wall and nudged her legs open with his knee. She struggled at that and his grip tightened.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

He interrupted his kiss enough to tell her.

"I'm making you mine. Isn't that what you want? You want a guy to show how you how it's going down?"

She pressed against him.

"I never said that. I can't do that."

He pushed himself in between her thighs and she really felt him then. Her body throbbed with how close he was to just thrusting that part of him where she wanted it but… she didn't want to be viewed as the boss's whore by everyone around her.

"You want me, I know you do," he said, "Well, you're getting what you want."

He grabbed hold of her then, and damn that pissed her off. She didn't atone to being dragged off into his lair so she tried to break free from his tight embrace, but he just held her tighter.

Then she realized he wouldn't have to tie her up, because he had raw strength to use for control.

"Stop it C.J.," he whispered at her, "Stop teasing me."

That made her see red and she struggled even harder, but it wasn't just anger that drove her but something more primal than that. She'd always been a fighter, struggling to survive; it was her first language from the cradle.

Somehow he knew that.

"Don't you dare call me a tease or I'll…"

"Or you'll what," he said, "In a second, I'll have you on that bed and it'll be you and me so fast…"

The anger boiled in her but so did something much more raw and powerful, something that made her body tremble in his embrace. Something much stronger than fear, or passion or any emotion she had ever known. Before he lay her on the bed, he kissed her hard on the mouth, moving his lips over hers, then down her neck where he took a hold of some tender skin inside his mouth and sucked it.

She didn't feel any pain, she just felt. She pushed and she struggled but his grip, it bruised her and she still wanted to kick his ass.

"In your dreams Houston…"

He dropped her on the bed then and stood above her, much taller and much stronger, his muscular build dwarfing the light.. She just lay on the bed out of breath, but if he thought…but Matt didn't look like he was thinking at all.

What she saw instead was a man of action, raw power that could strip a woman bare while not even touching her clothes. She sucked in her breath at the reality that he would show her all that power, the dominance of an alpha male towards its mate.

She felt a thrill penetrate the wall of defenses she had erected around herself, but no…hell no would she ever be dominated by any man let alone the one standing in front of her.

He crawled onto the bed and she thought about sliding backwards out of reach but he anticipated that and he grabbed her wrists in one hand and so much for that. Then that massive weight, all male stretched out on top of her body, before she could wiggle away. He braced his arms on either side of her even while still holding her wrists over her head and looked down at her.

Her chest fell and rose with each labored breath, damn she had just let her use his strength against her in a moment of weakness. His naked body pressing her to the mattress enough to make it dip and only her legs kept him at bay. His mouth brushed against her lips leisurely like he knew he had her. His kisses coaxed, nursing her mouth carefully.

"You really think you're going to be able to keep me out?"

She heard the raggedness in his voice and knew he wasn't just talking about her body.

"Let go of my wrists," he said, "You don't need to hold them."

"You sure you're not going to fight," he said, "I know why you're doing it but I've got you where I need you right now and where you need me too."

The deep timbre of his voice betrayed a softness and she felt her body wanting to relax and she wanted the pleasure he could give desperately.

"I don't want to be hurt."

He kissed her softly on the mouth and then looked down at her.

"I'm not going to do that," he said, "did someone do that to you?"

She bristled in his embrace.

"I can't. I don't want to hurt."

"It's part of being human on this good earth C.J.," he said, "Life's filled with all kind of pain along with pleasure but if you let me help you through the pain, I'll give you plenty of pleasure with it."

Her brow knit at his words. What the hell was he talking about as it was almost as if he knew? But she hadn't told anybody about it…not even the trip to the doctor when she thought she might be pregnant.

He looked into her eyes carefully just then, still being careful with his weight. Pressing hard enough to tell her that escape was futile but enough for her not to want it.

"Oh god, I don't know."

He seized her mouth just then to quiet her down and then she felt him nudge her thighs apart with his knee so he could slide between, his body wedged tightly in hers. Damn that felt so intimate, because she could feel both his roughness and smoothness. She could smell his damp musk and aftershave and she knew she could taste him.

Her knees nudged his hips and that felt strange, but being wide open, her pelvis where he could mold against it, oh god, she felt embarrassed, nervous and oh yeah, aroused beyond belief too.

"Oh yes you do now if you need to fight me to be okay with giving it up to me, then that's fine," he said, "because I know it's just for show."

She gritted her teeth as he maneuvered himself even closer, spreading her thighs wider to bring him closer to her. She forgot how much she needed to tell him to go to hell.

Instead she kissed him even more intensely on the mouth and she willingly opened her legs wider for him, and when she felt his ass flex with her knees, she closed her eyes.

When he moved against her, she felt as if even her soul was being stretched open, the tight walls she used to protect herself being nudged apart. She sucked her breath as he pushed further until…

"Oh god…it…"

"You need to relax…what are you expecting?…"

She felt the sharpness intensify and she tensed underneath him.

"Screw you Houston."

He smiled at her.

"Any time…any place …"

She fought to keep her eyes from stinging and she didn't know why. It wasn't physical but someplace else.

"Damn you're intense…I never would have guessed."

He kissed her then, lacing the inside of her mouth with his tongue as his body moved against her, slowly he withdrew and she felt the loss of him. She pulled him against her body not wanting to be separated.

"C.J., just relax, will you? I'm not going anywhere without you."

She blinked a tear out of her eye and when he caught that, he kissed her again, driving her towards dizziness from it. Then he kissed her so thoroughly she thought she'd pass out until he thrust hard enough to cause her to cry out.

"Oh god."

"That good huh?"

She blinked her eyes and this time, no tears. For a second she wanted to slap him but it passed.

"No,no I think…"

Yes, she started feeling the tension uncoil slowly inside from where her pussy held onto his cock so snugly. He stopped moving to give her a chance to get used to him, but he kept kissing at her, nipping her skin. She moved her hands, at some point he'd released them, sliding them over the slickness of his back and down to his ass which rippled beneath her hands when he made these slow, lazy and to her amazement, increasingly pleasurable movements against her.

Her hand wandered to where they were joined in ways she'd never even imagined possible. The friction inside of her built up deliciously slow, deliberate in reaching its mark.

"Oh C.J..."

It felt wonderful if unnerving to be physically connected to a man, let alone Matt. Their bodies were completely locked and she felt him pulsating inside of her. Her knees gripped his body and their sweat intermingled.

"I got to move okay but I promise you'll like it."

His body picked up in tempo, she felt that the warmth of the slide and the power gathering and then releasing beneath her hands.

He was about to unleash his power into her at last. God help her, especially because right now she didn't want to be helped.

She sucked in her breath and just cried out.

"Oh my…ohhhhh…."

He smiled as her cries turned to pleasure and just looked at her as her eyes searched his face.

"You want me to stop?"

She tried to shake her head, to gasp out the words no, she didn't want him to stop now that he'd started making her feel good. Ripples of pleasure permeating from deep inside of her.. The friction increased and he grabbed the back of her thighs and pulled her closer to him, encouraging her to wrap herself more tightly in his embrace.

She fumbled a bit because she had no idea what she did, or what rules she needed to follow with a guy like him, so she just tried to keep up.

"Come on ride with me," he urged her on.

"I don't…know…how…"

He kissed her on the mouth and showed her how earning her trust all over again.

"Houston don't stop."

"I can't but you need to hold on…hold on tight."

She gripped his shoulders this time and he plunged even more deeply than she thought possible because it wasn't just the act of him joining their bodies but something inside her felt him…as if he'd gotten closer to a part of herself she kept hidden from everyone.

The mattress springs squeaked but neither of them noticed, they took turns setting the tempo. The collision of their bodies, the scent of their musk in the air and the droplets of sweat on her face. Then she felt the buildup inside her threaten to overwhelm her.

Oh no, she couldn't take that. Each thrust pushed her closer until she flirted with the full power of the pleasure about to envelop her body. She felt some relief some reprieve in case it became too much for her.

"Oh god, your so sweet…"

She bit her lip to keep from crying out her release to try to push back the dam of elation that threatened to spill over.

"Just a little bit longer…"

At that point, the explosion that rocked her made her scream a cluster of words she'd soon forget. She grabbed him tight and couldn't let go. She felt her muscles quake, her legs weaken and she wanted so badly to arch her head back because she couldn't stand it.

Oh damn as the shockwaves he catalyzed drove through her. She sank on the bed, her legs still gripping him as they both felt the most pure of elation, the intensity rocking them to the parts of themselves they kept hidden.

Afterward, he rolled her gently over so she lay on top of him, embraced in the warmth of him. His arms firmly around her as she lay sprawled, their bodies drying together. She had no words, but plenty of emotions washing over her, with none of them dominating her attention. Her breath rasped harshly against his chest and she felt his own heart racing against her skin.

She had no energy to move or to do anything but just lie there in his arms. He started caressing her while she closed her eyes. Too wired to sleep but needing to process how she felt after what had happened.

"How you feeling," he asked finally.

"Mmm….better."

"That was really something…you okay?"

She did an inventory and yeah, she felt incredibly fine and sated.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm not hurt if that's what you're wondering."

He gazed at her wondering so many things…realizing she had her own secrets.

"You look absolutely beautiful."

She never considered he might say that…he'd given her compliments before but not in this position.

"You don't look so bad yourself…you call all your women beautiful?"

"Nah, just the ones I win in poker matches."

That made her smile but then she wondered what he thought of her as a lover. She'd had her own fantasies but what about reality?

"How was I?"

He kissed her mouth, softly and then with more ardor before releasing her with a smile that slowly crossed his face.

"You were incredible when you got your ass on the bed."

She sighed, and he pulled her with him.

"What are you doing," she asked.

"I'm holding onto you," Matt said, "I've got you for the whole night."

She twisted in his arms, looking at him.

"I thought you wanted just a roll in the hay. That's what the game was about wasn't it?"

He licked his mouth, and she hoped it wasn't due to amusement.

"No I wanted you," he said, "I wanted to spend the night with you."

She took a deep breath, her heart still beating rapidly and her body still coming down from what they shared.

"I had no idea if I had known sooner…"

He kissed her lightly on the mouth, and she savored the pressure of his lips. She felt the anticipation build in her again.

"Nah it was perfect the way it turned out," he said, "and we do have the rest of the night."

"For what…?"

He just looked at her.

"Oh I still got a few things I got to show you."

She felt her skin prickle from his words because now that she'd gotten a taste, she wanted more from him…only next time she'd be holding the reins.

And if she needed to get her hands on some rope to do that, she'd go right ahead and show them her finesse in that area herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Modern day

"God I hate that bitch."

Slim poured C.J. a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. They had viewed the wreckage after Serena Gambacci had left the building. The two of them had walked in from the helipad to see the heiress preparing to exit after what must have been a passionate interlude with Matt.

He of course was sitting buck naked save his favorite cowboy hat in the hot tub. When he saw them, he ducked his head beneath the bubbling waters. Rather out of embarrassment or regret for giving in to Serena's song, they couldn't tell. Soon after he reached for his clothes and used them to shield certain vital bodily parts while he made his exit to the gym downstairs. Not before flashing the women a hint of his backside.

C.J. looked…of course she looked. How could she not? It didn't mean anything after all except that she had eyes and an appreciation for the male body.

But damn she hated Serena on sight. The typical spoiled rich princess who'd made her life miserable while she'd been growing up in Southern Texas. Growing up without parents and wearing hand me downs to school. The rich crowd had teased her over it until she'd punched Taffy the Queen bee of that hive in the face.

Serena never had that benefit and she would have had Matt by the nose ring if he'd been a prize bull. Damn she was so disappointed in him…for being a man.

"They must have gone at it on the sofa…after she walked in on him drinking Scotch," Slim said, eying the half empty bottle and glass on the bar.

"Guess they never made it downstairs…"

Down the winding staircase behind the waterfall where Matt stashed his love nest for the ladies. He'd said it would be a crash pad for those late nights he put in as a CEO of Houston Enterprises. Yeah right…when he hit the sheets after burning the midnight oil, it was hardly ever alone.

So he'd hooked up with Serena. C.J. didn't even want to imagine what that must have been like. A high maintenance girl like so many of the socialites who attracted Matt's attention. He knew how to please them in the sack…she knew that herself during that one night years ago. ]

Still none of them seemed to last long.

"He'll drop her," Slim said, "he's no more monogamous with women than with his fleet of cars."

"True…but seriously she's the number one suspect in her father's murder," C.J. said, "and she has the strongest motive, billions of dollars."

"She could buy a country with that dough…if there's one for sale."

C.J. snorted.

"Or an island…instead she's seducing Houston…not the world's toughest job."

Slim eyed her more closely.

"Sounds like you know."

C.J. bit her tongue. She didn't kiss and tell after all. She kept her affairs very private especially the short ones. It'd been a one nighter after all. A one-nighter and a potential complication. Still, years later she and Matt were best friends and business partners.

They'd made millions and built lives for themselves in the golden state…why mess all that up by hitting the sheets?

Matt and C.J. went to the party to scout out all the suspects. Professionally speaking, though when C.J. said she might start getting phone numbers, he got a little perturbed. The men all looked at her appreciatively as soon as she walked into the room. C.J. always did attract attention from the opposite sex.

He got hit on by Serena again but he'd rebuffed her accusing her of only impersonating a human being…but later on he'd hit the couch with her undone by her nubile body and her seductive tone. It'd been fun but when he woke up the next morning with a hangover he had no intentions of a repeat performance.

C.J. had fed him a raw egg in some of the hair that bit the dog in an attempt to get him back on his feet. He'd ordered that bucking bronco gizmo favored by urban cowboys and had it set up in his gym so he could get in some much needed practice time before winning back his money by taming Gut Buster…the ill-tempered gelding that had dropped him on his ass more times than he could count.

"Houston…you think you're any closer to figuring out who did it?"

He sighed after gulping down the concoction she'd whipped up for him and noticed she'd put in more than the usual dab of tabasco sauce.

Damn that packed a punch!

"I'm thinking everyone did it," he said, "Might just be a case of who drew their gun the fastest or who got there first. Gambacci wasn't a well-liked billionaire."

"I bet his daughter did it."

Matt winced.

"C.J. I just don't see Serena blowing him up from across the room," he said "More like she'd slit his throat in his sleep."

She chuckled.

"That's not charitable about a woman you just knocked boots with Houston."

He narrowed his eyes.

"I don't think I was wearing my boots."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Houston…well what about Karen Ann then?"

Matt sighed.

"He was blackmailing her," he said, "Threatening to blow her cover as America's sweetheart if she didn't do what he wanted."

C.J. went to pour herself a Scotch.

"You didn't…"

He frowned.

"No…she's a very lovely lady but this is just business…"

"Like Serena?"

He didn't respond to her bait wondering what had gotten into his associate. Sure she was feeling punchy after she'd fleeced him out of his money in the bronco wager and for getting more phone numbers at that wing ding than he did…but why was she hitting him so hard for his slip up with Hurricane Serena?

"Nah…I like Karen Ann…and I wish I could help her. But she's got motive to kill the man…like half of L.A."

C.J. paused.

"Well what about Wildcat Callahan?"

He heard how carefully she worded it because she knew the guy had saved his life. Matt must have had a reckless childhood with all the people he owed for saving his life from famous chefs to mercenaries.

"He's got motive too," Matt said, "There's something off about those champagne bottles only I can't put it all together."

She patted him on the shoulder.

"You will Houston…just keep at it."

She turned to leave the suite.

"Where you going C.J.?"

"Out…"

"Out where?"

"None of your damn business," she said, "I'll be there on time for Laurie's birthday party."

He nodded not really pleased but he still needed to go do some more homework for the party…and pick up that gift from his buddy Vince Novelli if it was needed.

C.J. and Slim sat on the railing while they all waited for Matt to try riding that crazy bronco again. They all bet that he couldn't stay on for 10 seconds…a sure thing as she saw it. She hated betting against her best friend but while he knew his way around a horse, his staying power…let's just say it worked better in other areas.

They both nursed a cold beer listening to city slicker Vince mumble about not knowing nothing about horses.

"Man it must have been real tough for him to find out the truth about Wildcat."

C.J. sipped from her long necked bottle.

"Real tough…he disappeared for a while afterward."

Slim nodded.

"Yeah he took his Porsche out for a drive and actually returned with it in one piece."

"Wildcat saved his life though," C.J. said, "when Laurie's real father took a shot at him again."

"What did he have against Houston anyway? It's not like he was the one who slipped her a mickey and then took blackmail photos."

"Yeah…but maybe fathers are protective about their daughters…like my daddy was before he died."

Her voice trailed off…not her favorite memory. But what she saw at the age of six, well no child should ever have to watch their father die.

"I guess so…"

They both turned to watch Matt come out chaps and all aboard Gut Buster who not only didn't buck him off he let him ride him around the correl.

"Damn it…," C.J. said, "I should have known…when he asked for double or nothing this time he had something up his sleeve."

Slim sighed.

"There goes my surfboard money," she said, "at least Cal's taking me out to some place real special. He wants me to move with him to Hawaii."

C.J.'s eyes widened.

"Wow…that serious…you just met him last week."

Slim shook her head.

"Last month…when you and Matt were buying up that hacienda in Baja…before some drug cartel blew it up."

"Tax write off…"

C.J. prepared to jump off the fence after a triumphant Matt relieved them of their money. Then the most amazing thing happened…Gut Buster remembered his rep and tossed Matt on his ass

The dust flew up when Matt landed as his friends all laughed at him. Life was back to normal after all.

"Hey C.J…"

She looked to see a rather battered Matt walk up to her.

"What is it Houston?"

"Say you wouldn't want to go out to get some barbecue about now."

She tilted her face.

"At Tex's Place?"

He nodded, brushing the dirt off his chaps. He'd always looked damn fine in them even back then. But…

"Sorry Houston…I'm heading off to Mama's. She's teaching me how to make pizza and I promised her I'd take her to a club afterwards."

"Mama wants to go clubbing?"

C.J. laughed.

"Don't sound so amazed Houston…we do it at least once a week."

"I didn't know that…"

"There's a lot about me you don't know," she said, "I'll see you tomorrow morning bright and early about the new case…"

She walked away leaving a dusty cowboy in her wake.


	11. Chapter 11

C.J. held the frog in her hand, its legs dangling. Clearly the animal who just happened to be Matt's prize frog Rupert felt more relaxed than she did. She'd just piloted Matt's ex-girlfriend from college, Christina Berenson from the headquarters in L.A. to his ranch nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Listening to the gorgeous and very stylishly dressed model prattle on about being accused of murdering some big shot in the fashion industry with a poison dart, kind of like Cupid gone horribly bad. C.J. just knew she'd been another one of those young woman that Matt just had to keep rescuing over and over again.

Wait, she had a shiny bauble on her finger that attracted her attention, how could it not given its size? C.J. had never been engaged herself but she knew jewelry and that ring had to cost a bundle. After they landed, she and Matt just looked at each other and everything and everyone around them disappeared.

After hearing her story, Matt of course agreed to help her then and there and since the helicopter was a two seater that meant that C.J was left holding the frog.

Matt was ripe for another dalliance since he and Cindy McNichol, the vapid young blonde woman who'd been into auras and pyramids from another case were kaput. Greatly helped by the fact that her dog just never warmed up to him.

Slim had gotten married a couple months earlier to her surfer dude overlooking the beach in Santa Barbara and had moved to Hawaii. So that left her Rupert confide him as she went to return him back to his pond.

She'd have to drive to the office to work today and she didn't want to get caught in the traffic.

Christina sat on the couch while Matt fumbled around with Baby. The sophisticated computer system which had a direct line to every database on the planet loved C.J. and tolerated him. They were trying to check out any other suspects to the murder investigation that Vince launched against Christina under pressure by his boss.

She was dressed in some silk outfit from Paris and silver heels, not to mention she had fur stole wrapped around her even though it was a hot summer day. They'd already had the discussion about the bauble on her finger and how she'd been swept up in some whirlwind deal with a senator…who wasn't here helping her and she seemed to discuss almost casually though she'd called it the "real deal" an hour ago.

Damn it'd been sweet between them when they met up in college. He a star quarterback, she a cheerleader and sorority princess. He'd dated around at Rice University if it could be called that but she'd lasted longer than the others.

Then they'd hooked up six months ago for a time when she'd been living in Georgia and he'd spent three months at Fort Benning doing some consulting there. Even though they quickly fell back into the whole Rooster and Squeaky thing it hadn't lasted.

They were just two very different people but right now he had a tough time remembering that. Especially when she sidled up to him on the sofa speaking in that voice with a hint of breathlessness.

"Oh Rooster…seeing you again," she said, "It just brings back so many memories despite everything."

Matt couldn't deny that…he'd remembered how it'd been between them. He'd find out who'd framed her for murder, save her from a life in prison term and then maybe they could pick up where they'd left off year earlier.

Who knows? Maybe this time they could make it work. She could ditch the senator and get together with him, start something serious.

"Sure does…but first things first…"

She nodded but then she did something unexpected. She leaned over and kissed him, brushing her lips over his lightly.

Then moving back into her corner.

"Christina…"

"Squeaky…"

He cleared his throat.

"Squeaky…what was that?"

She smiled at him, flipping her hair back.

"You know what that was Rooster," she said, "There's more where that came from…"

"But…"

She fiddled with her engagement ring.

"He's back in Washington…and you and I are both here… and don't you remember how good it was between us?"

It had been sweet back then. He couldn't argue with that.

"You know I was the best you ever had too."

He furrowed his brow. He didn't know if he'd go that far. There'd been quite a few women after all in his life. Several who stood apart from the rest and one…

"You know it Rooster," she said, "Remember that time in Atlanta…"

Yes he did and the way their two month interlude had ended in a huge fight before she headed off to a modeling gig in London in a huff.

"Houston…did you hear from Vince?"

Matt looked up and saw C.J. sashaying in wearing one of her business suits. The three piecer which served as her uniform during days she tackled the legal side of the business.

He got up from the couch to go pour himself a glass of much needed Scotch.

"Yeah he's thinking it might be time to pay that psychic a visit," he said, "Last time I did that, it got freaky."

C.J. frowned.

"There's all kinds of freaky Houston. Which kind are you talking about?"

"I know that C.J. I'm talking about this mumbo jumbo magic act of hers."

C.J. laughed.

"You know that's just sleight of hand action," she said, "You should be an expert on that."

Ouch.

She was definitely throwing him some zingers this morning and he didn't know why…just like he didn't know why she begged off on those dinner dates and wouldn't tell him where she was going instead.

He wondered if she had a boyfriend she kept secret. He'd have to talk to her about that as soon as things got less busy with Christina.

"Houston…so be careful with the psychic okay? She might have a screw loose and well, I really don't want to run the business by myself."

"Don't you worry yourself darling…I've got this all under control…"

Christina frowned.

"Why are you calling her darling?"

He sipped his drink eying both women. Both brunettes, both in great shape and that's where their similarities ended.

"Just an expression. Look she's right. I'd better go find out what the psychic knows through her mystical powers or otherwise."

Christina sighed.

"If you must…but we're still on for dinner tonight right?"

He nodded and kissed her softly on the mouth. When he glanced up at C.J. she rolled her eyes and walked out of the room swaying her hips like she owned it.

C.J. ate lunch with Pam who'd wanted badly to leave the office to get some fresh air and sunlight. Matt had been dodging the secretaries again and they were quite irate about it. Even threatening to strike for one work day until someone could chain him to his vintage oak desk and get him to sign a whole stack of papers that needed to be flown overnight to Murray Chase back in Texas.

"So you think Christina's going to get a book contract out of this scandal?"

C.J. put down her fork and looked at her.

"Say what?"

"You know what I mean…she's a world famous model accused of killing a famous designer in an ingenious way and she might be innocent."

"She'd get a better deal if she were guilty…"

Pam paused.

"C.J. do you think she did it?"

She had to pause a long moment to think about it. Lord knows she had her suspicions. But then it'd taken some brains to put together this murder plot and Christina…she'd clearly gone into hiding after they passed out the good looks.

"I don't know…I hope not," she said, "Houston would be devastated. They were pretty serious back in college."

Pam shook her head.

"I don't know what he sees in her," she said, "So prim and proper and not a hair out of place. Houston's really into girls like that?"

C.J. shrugged.

"Yeah…he likes them pretty and needing his help," she said, "I'm not sure what he'd do with a woman who could take care of herself."

"So he's an alpha male?"

"An alpha what?"

Pam sighed.

"You know like in the romance novels," she said, "The men who like to take charge of everything including their women."

C.J. thought that described him to a T. In ways that she couldn't exactly share with Pam. She didn't kiss and tell after all.

Matt rode with Christina on a trail along a river that ran through his ranch. She'd saddled up one of his new fillies in the barn but opted for English style tack and wardrobe.

While he chose his worn jeans, worn hat and totally worn down boots and a Western saddle. He was all cowboy after all.

They'd just caught the real killer and sure enough, the psychic hadn't just predicted the murder, she'd committed it along with her henchman husband. Matt pulled the all-time bluff by pretending that one of her mind control tricks worked until he could get the upper hand on both of them.

He thought that once they got that out of the day, he'd romance her at Mama's restaurant and then they'd hit a night cap back at the house as a prelude to…

But then it hit him that they were two very different people…riding side by side and nothing had changed. If they got back together, it might work for a while but then they'd fight and break up again. Still there was one pivotal question to ask her.

"Do you like frogs?"

She wrinkled her nose at that.

"Oh god no, I hate them."

There, that did it that dealt the death blow to their relationship. Just like that, it was over. After he waxed a soliquy about his beloved Rupert and they rode off in separate directions. He back to the ranch to meet up with Bo and Lamar who wanted to double or nothing on the frog jumping match.

He'd asked Murray to get Rupert into prime shape even if it meant hiring a renowned frog whisperer. Instead, he found C.J. kicking back on the lawn in her faded jeans and chambray shirt. Her curly hair loose around her shoulders.

His best friend.

C.J. rigged the entire frog jumping contest for him. She'd gone out and gotten Rupert a lady frog named Hildegard, wrapped her up in a pink bow and used her to do as Bo said, "lure a critter on."

Both cried foul after Rupert broke the record for his leap and she declared him and Matt the winner. Still he looked put out and she knew that Christina and he weren't rekindling the old flame.

Then he made some comment about having to kiss a lot of frogs before meeting a prince. She thought he might laugh to show he felt better. Instead he laid one on her.

He kissed her softly on the mouth, a hint of so much more only he pulled away just as quickly. Before her mind had enough time to catch up to her body's reaction.

It reminded her so much of another time when it hadn't stopped there between them. Only so many years had passed since.

"Gribbit…"

His eyebrows waggled telling her it was all a joke. Damn him for pulling that fast one on her. She just got up and brushed the grass off her jeans.

"Where you going C.J. I thought we were going to do some barbecuing…"

She smiled at him.

"No Houston…I got plans," she said, "You all have fun."

"C.J…about that kiss…"

She winked at him.

"It's just a joke Houston. You know what I'm like when I'm getting serious."

She turned on her heel and headed away from him.


End file.
